SUBSCRIPTIONS

ABOUT

Letters to the Editor

Fuggedabout the DNC; visit Pueblo

7/11/2008

Dear Editor,

It’s a little early, but I want to make sure that those who desire to take advantage of my suggestions have hotel reservations.

I am sure that most of the million or so residents of the metro area are enthusiastically looking forward to greeting all those visitors who will be arriving in the latter part of August to attend the BIG convention. For the dozen or so who want to skip the chaos caused by delegates, demonstrators, press people and politicians in general, I offer a few suggestions for an inexpensive and nearby escape.

COME TO PUEBLO!!! IT’S STATE FAIR TIME! At the fair you will find something for everyone: livestock shows, horse shows, dog shows and cooking demonstrations; live entertainment, rodeos, bull-riding and street entertainers; real State Fair food such as turkey legs, corn dogs, tacos, hamburgers, cotton candy and funnel cakes, among dozens of other edibles. There is also the great shopping experience with vendors selling everything you ever wanted and don’t need. And don’t forget the rides, the art shows and the 4-H displays that give you back your faith in the younger generation. All this in a people-friendly environment where, if all else fails to delight, you can sit on a bench in the shade and enjoy a beer.

When you are culturally overloaded with fair attractions, spend a little time in our town. Just because we are south of the El Paso County line does not mean that we are lacking in those things that make for a civilized society. In town, you will find restaurants galore from fine dining establishments to providers of every kind of ethnic food there is. Even pizza comes in many varieties — from New York style on white tablecloths at Angelo’s to pizza from DoDropInn, a unique Pueblo variety that attracts people from all over. Try green chili somewhere. You can find it almost on every corner and part of any number of menu items from smothered burritos to green chili sloppers. And if you don’t like to leave your comfort zone, we have every chain there is.

And we do have things to do besides eat. There is an art center and many art galleries; there is a host of museums, including historical museums, a firehouse museum, an aircraft museum with a real B-24, a steelworkers’ museum featuring CF&I history and even a completely furnished 37-room Victorian mansion, called Rosemount, that amazes the visitor and stuns those from up north who always thought that everybody lived in tents or shacks in Pueblo in the 1890s.

You can play golf, tennis, Frisbee golf, run a kayak course or go fishing if you so desire. Do come by and give us a look. The pace is slower, the prices are cheaper and the people friendlier than you’re used to, but you might find that a pleasant change.

I suggest you start planning now, because motel rooms are hard to come by if you wait too long and if you drive all the way down, you might as well spend a day or two.

Hope to see you soon! And if you get lost, give me a call and I’ll head you in the right direction.